Vols will try to make point at NIT

Whoever is responsible for running the offense from the point guard position when the 23rd-ranked Tennessee Volunteers compete in the NIT Season Tip-Off Classic over the next few days at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden will be the man-on-the-spot in more ways than one. Vols’ second-year head coach Bruce Pearl said during his postgame press conference following the Vols’ 99-65 blasting of Coppin State Sunday at UT’s Thompson-Boling Arena that the point guard position is an area of concern going into the high profile, nationally-televised tournament over the Thanksgiving holiday. “Our point guard play needs to improve,” said the coach. “Ramar (Smith) can play better. Having Dane (Bradshaw) back there with him helps.” Smith, a freshman point guard from Detroit who came to UT as a High School All-American after a whirlwind recruitment, has been pegged as the point guard of the future for the Vols. Bradshaw, a senior from West Tennessee, has lined up at virtually every position on the court during his college career. Used primarily as a combo-guard during his first two seasons under former coach Buzz Peterson, Bradshaw played at power forward in his first year under Pearl, drawing accolades for his gutsy, team-first style of play while helping the Vols win 23 games and the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division Title before making it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2005. Jordan Howell, a 6-foot-3, junior from Auburn, Alabama, could be the wild card in the mix at point guard, as could a couple of first-year Vols—freshmen Marques Johnson and Josh Tabb. High-scoring junior JaJuan Smith could even see some time at the point, but Pearl has indicated in the past that Smith would only move to point in a dire situation. Pearl would be the first to say that as the season progresses, any number of candidates on the unusually-deep Vols’ roster could end up manning the position of point guard. However, as the team heads into its first real test of the 2006/07 season, the before-mentioned three players are the primary candidates to run the show as Pearl tries to build on the success of last year and continue to instill a fresh and exciting new era of Tennessee basketball. In Sunday’s win over Coppin State, the veteran Bradshaw displayed the savvy that has made him a home-crowd favorite and an enemy at opposing arenas. Bradshaw was in the starting lineup as a forward with Smith running the point at the opening tip. As is the norm with the 6-foot-4, 2003 Tennessee High School Player of the Year from White Station High, Bradshaw did a nice job Sunday of filling up the state sheet. He finished 4-of-4 from the field, including a trey, for eight points. Bradshaw had six rebounds, four turnovers, one block, one steal, and a team-high nine assists against Coppin State. Bradshaw accomplished all of this in just 20 minutes of playing time. “He’s guarding inside but he’s really playing point for us in a lot of ways, “Pearl explained on how Bradshaw factors into Tennessee’s game plan. “As we start to evolve as a team, he’ll continue to play point in even more ways.” Bradshaw, by the way, was 1-of-3 from the line Sunday and was just a combined 6-or-15 at the charity stripe through the Vols’ first four games this season. Smith’s final stat line, on the other hand, wasn’t as gaudy as his senior counterpart. The promising freshman missed his only shot from the field but did manage to sink both of his free throw attempts--finishing with two points, three assists, four turnovers and two steals in 19 minutes of playing time. Howell, who played both guard positions in the contest, saw just 13 minutes of playing time in his first game back since suffering the injury that sidelined him for the first three games of the season. Howell came off the bench Sunday against Coppin State and was 2-of-3 from behind the three-point arc to finish with six points. He also had two assists, a rebound and a turnover in his limited playing time. “I thought Jordan did a lot of good things,” Pearl commented. “He pushed the ball well and looked comfortable. Certainly, he’s not in the position to run the ball club yet. He missed five weeks but it’s good to have him back.” The Vols will begin play in the tournament tonight at 7 o’ clock with a contest against Butler. Should UT win Wednesday against Butler, it would then play the winner of the other semifinal matchup between North Carolina and Gonzaga. A loss against Butler would put the Vols in a consolation game against the loser of the other semifinal game. The championship game and the consolation game will both be held on Friday at Madison Square Garden.